As You Have Ever Been, Remain

Tejobindu Upanishad describes One beyond duality and non-duality

Tejobindu is the 12th of the 108 upanishads and is attached to the Krishna Yajur Veda. It includes this esoteric explanation of union with Parabrahman, the absolute, when nothing is and nothing is not.

Rest assured that to say anything is not Atma is a misconception. There is no manas that is not Atma. There is no world that is not Atma. When all sankalpas (eras) are gone and all actions over, Brahman alone remains, and there is nothing that is not Atma. Being devoid of the three bodies, the three periods of time, the three gunas of jiva, the three pains and the three worlds, and following the saying "All is Brahman," know thee that there is nothing to be known in the absence of chitta (consciousness); there is no old age in the absence of body; no action in the absence of hands; no death in the absence of creatures. There is no virtue, no purity, no fear, no repetition of mantras, no guru nor any disciple. There is no second in the absence of one. Where the second is not, even the first disappears.

Where there is Truth alone, there is no non-Truth possible; where there is non-Truth alone, there is no Truth possible. Auspiciousness is desired only if something inauspicious exists. If you regard fear and not-fear, then fear will arise out of not-fear. If bondage should become emancipation, then in the absence of bondage there will be no emancipation. If birth should imply death, then in the absence of birth, there is no death. If "thou" implies "I," then in the absence of "thou" there is no "I ." If the concept of "this" creates the idea of "that," then "this" does not exist in the absence of a way to indicate "that." If being should imply non-being, then non-being will imply being. If an effect implies a cause, then in the absence of effect, there is no cause. If duality implies non-duality, then in the absence of duality there is no non-duality. For anything to be seen, there is the faculty of sight; in the absence of the seen, there is no sight. In the absence of any interior, there is no exterior. If there should be fullness, only then is non-fullness possible.

Therefore, all of this exists nowhere. Neither you nor I, nor this nor these exist. There exists no object of comparison in the True One. There is nothing like or unlike the Unborn. There is no mind to think. I am the supreme Brahman. This world is Brahman only. Thou and I are Brahman only.

I am Chinmatra simply, and there is nothing that is not the Atma. This is certain. This universe is not. This universe is not at all. It was nowhere produced and stays nowhere. Some say that chitta is the universe. No, it does not exist. Neither the universe nor chitta nor ahankara nor jiva exists. Neither the creations of Maya, nor Maya itself really exists. Fear does not exist. Actor, action, hearing, thinking, the two samadhis, the measurer, the measure, ajnana (ignorance) and aviveka (confusion)--none of these exists anywhere.

Therefore the four moving considerations and the three kinds of relationship do not exist. There is no Ganga, no Gaya, no Setu, no elements or anything else, no earth, water, fire, vayu (wind), or akasha anywhere; no Devas, no guardians of the four quarters, no Vedas, no Guru, no distance, no proximity, no time, no middle, no non-duality, no truth, no untruth, no bondage, no emancipation, no Sat, no asat, no happiness, no class, no motion, no caste, and no worldly business. All is I; all is Brahman only and nothing else.

There exists, thus, nothing such as "consciousness alone is;" there is, at that point, no saying such as "Chit is I." The statement "I am Brahman" does not exist when one is Brahman; nor does exist the statement "I am the eternally pure." Whatever is uttered by the mouth, whatever is thought by manas, whatever is determined by buddhi, whatever is cognized by chitta--all these do not exist. There is no yogi or yoga when one is Brahman. All are and are not. Neither day nor night, neither bathing nor contemplating, neither delusion nor non-delusion--these do not exist then.

O Yogi, hear that there is not an atom which thou dost not penetrate; but yet thou art without their semblance. Thou art devoid of existence and non-existence. Thou art changeless, without kala or kashta (divisions of time). Thou art immersed in the bliss of Self. There is nothing that thou seekest which is not thyself. Have no doubt, thou art I. Know there is nothing not-Atma.

K. Narayanasvami Aiyar published this translation of Tejobindu Upanishad (slightly edited here) in 1914 along with the Adyar Library as part of his book, Thirty Minor Upanishads. The translation had previously appeared in the monthly journal, The Theosophist. He collaborated on the work with Sundara Sastri.

The Vedas are the divinely revealed and most revered scriptures, shruti, of Hinduism, likened to the Torah (1200 bce), Bible New Testament (100 ce), Koran (630 ce) or Zend Avesta (600 bce). Four in number, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, the Vedas include over 100,000 verses. Oldest portions may date back as far as 6500 bce.